Artie Shaw

DRELLA: I am the Artie Shaw of harpists.

Artie Shaw (1910-2004) was an American musician who grew up in Connecticut, widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz clarinetists of all time. He led one of the most popular big bands through the 1930s and ’40s, and is best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter’s Begin the Beguine.

A serious artist, Shaw was a perfectionist who was known for forming bands, working to make them successful, and then quickly disbanding them. In 1954 he stopped playing the clarinet, explaining that he had taken the instrument as far as it could go. After World War II, Shaw gradually withdrew from the world of music to pursue a writing career.

This comment may explain why we never see Drella again after this episode – like Artie Shaw, she simply felt she had achieved the pinnacle of success as a harpist and stopped playing. Of course, given her constant rudeness to staff and customers, it is quite believable that Lorelai sacked her. Artie Shaw was apparently a very difficult person as well.

The actor portraying Drella, Alex Borstein, was originally cast as Sookie on Gilmore Girls, playing her in the original, unaired pilot. Borstein was unable to continue in the role as she was still contracted to the sketch comedy show MADtv. Although busy voicing Lois Griffin on Family Guy, Borstein managed to appear as various characters on Gilmore Girls from time to time.

Rosemary’s Baby

RORY (after being startled by Dean): God! You’re like Ruth Gordon just standing there with a tannis root. Make a noise.
DEAN: Rosemary’s Baby.
RORY: Yeah.
DEAN: Well, that’s a great movie. You’ve got good taste.

Rosemary’s Baby is a 1968 horror film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the 1967 best-seller of the same name by Ira Levin. In the film, a young housewife named Rosemary (played by Mia Farrow) discovers that a cult has tricked her into bearing a demonic child. Ruth Gordon (1896-1985) plays Rosemary’s elderly neighbour Minnie Castavet, who is a leader in the cult; Gordon won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Minnie gives Rosemary a pendant necklace filled with tannis root (a fictional herb), which the cult apparently deploys as an all-round demonic treatment. As Minnie hovers around handing Rosemary tannis root in food and drink as well, it is hard to know which exact moment in the film Rory has in mind – or if she is so startled that she doesn’t quite know herself what she is saying.

Rosemary’s Baby was the #8 film of 1968, was acclaimed by critics, and is regarded as a classic movie. Dean is right that Rory has good taste. Fans of Dean Forester (Jared Padalecki) can enjoy this time during Season 1 when Dean quickly picked up on old film references and seemed to be an intellectual equal for Rory. It won’t last.

“Protestants love oatmeal”

SOOKIE: I’ll make cookies [to celebrate Rory getting into Chilton]. Protestants love oatmeal.

Sookie has a number of eccentric beliefs in regard to food, and this seems to be one of them. The reason for her statement is something of a mystery to me, unless she is thinking of Quaker Oats, whose logo has a man dressed in 18^th century Quaker clothing to represent simplicity and honesty. (The company was not founded by Quakers, and never had any connection with the religion).

The interesting part is that her saying this seems to imply that Sookie herself is not a Protestant, although this is never confirmed in the show.

Mr. Kim

RORY: When are you going to let your parents know that you listen to the evil rock music? You’re an American teenager, for God’s sake.

Lane has two parents, but her father is never seen during the course of the original show, even at major family events. It is never explained where he is, and Keiko Agena, who played Lane, never asked Amy Sherman-Palladino where Mr. Kim was. Keiko herself felt that he had to travel a lot, and that it might have something to do his religion, such as missionary work of some kind. Perhaps he was always out buying new stock for the antique store. A Year in the Life provides a brief glimpse of Mr. Kim, confirming once and for all that he does exist.

Stars Hollow

In the first shot of the pilot, we see a sign with STARS HOLLOW FOUNDED 1779 on it. Stars Hollow is loosely based on the small town of Washington Depot in Connecticut, which incorporated in 1779. In the 19^th century its industrial section was known as Factory Hollow.

However, Rory says that Stars Hollow is 30 minutes drive from Hartford, while Washington Depot is about an hour away from there, so it can’t have the same location. That distance might put it somewhere around the vicinity of the town of Wallingford or the city of Meriden.

The pilot of Gilmore Girls was filmed in Unionville, Ontario, and from then on at Warner Brothers in Burbank, California.